Blackberry is good, but the only lacking feature is multilingual support. If you want to display (or type) any language other than English, normally it means some painful searching on the net for instruction, following by some painful installing process.
I did my search when I got my new Bold 9700, and here is a good guide I got from a Japanese site. I posted a Chinese version, here is the English one. It worked for me so hopefully it will be useful for you.
(If any links in the article don’t work, please leave a comment and I will try to fix them)
1) Download and install the “Blackberry Devices Manager” from Blackberry website. You can also find it from the CD that comes with your berry devices.
2) Language pack. You can find different language pack files from this page. I used “Hong Kong CSL Limited” one but I assume others shouldn’t be much different although I haven’t tried them. In the next page, you will need to choose your model. I chose “Blackberry Bold ™ 9700 Smartphone”. Next page, you should see three download options. You will need to choose “BlackBerry Handheld Software v5.0.0.680 (EastAsia)”. Then the rest is just filling the registration form. The file should be around 126MB.
3) Open up your Blackberry Devices Manager, and then connect your blackberry to PC. Next, run the “BlackBerry Handheld Software v5.0.0.680 (EastAsia)” file that you just downloaded. It will ask you to shutdown your device manager, just follow its instruction. After installation finish, you should see a message with an option asking if you want to open the Devices Manager, *Note* you don’t need to tick this option, just click on [Finish] to close the window.
4) The following few steps are quite important. Go to C:\Program Files\Common Files\Research In Motion\AppLoader folder, and delete the file named “vendor.xml”. And then run “Loader.exe” file, you should see the following screen:
5) You should be notified for your Blackberry PIN, just click on next, then the software should start loading some data.
6) Lastly you will come to this screen, where you can choose which language to install. Once you selected everything that you need, click on [Next], and it will take about 10 to 15 minutes for installation. It’s normal to take a while, so don’t stop you or shut down your computer during the installation.
You should be able to see or write Chinese in your Blackberry now if you have reached this step. The same instruction can be used for Japanese or other Asian language. Do post a comment if you success following this instruction. Or thank my sponsor below:
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Hi,
I have tried to follow the steps above, but then it says if i go through with the version above it will downgrade all the program already installed in my blackberry?
Pls advice! this is all new to me!
Thanks
Hi Kathy,
I have updated the article and each step now has a number. Which step did you get this notice from?
Thanks so much for this tutorial! I spent two hours trying to figure out how to add Japanese to my Blackberry, then I found your website and it worked right away! Thanks so much!
Hi Rebecca, thanks for your message. Glad to know it’s useful!
Hola, hice los pasos tal y como lo indicas pero al llegar al punto de “Device Application Selection” solo me aparecen los programas ya instalados y no la lista de idiomas en Japones y Chino que quiero instalar.
Yo estoy en México pero instale los programas en el idioma ingles.
De antemano gracias por tu ayuda.
Saludos
Hi Richard. I’m trying to install the chinese input (not the font support). I followed all the instructions above but always comes up short. After I delete the vendor.xml file and run the Loader, instead of getting the Device Application Selection screen where you can choose various types of languages input, I’m getting a Device Application Selection screen with the following message: “The BlackBerry Desktop Software does not have BlackBerry Device Software for the device that you have connected to the computer. Contact your wireless service provider or system administrator.” There’s nothing I can do from that point on except the cancel button.
It would be great if you have any tips and advise to help me with my chinese input installation. Thanks!
worked for me..can write Chinese but not Japanese yet. I mean I still cannot input katakana and hiragana.
@Pang. Which country and what network are you in?
@Iea. For Step(2), you can try to choose some others.
@Richard: I’m running with AT&T in USA. I was thinking would it actually help if I took out the sim card while doing this? I also notice that after I did the HK CSL OS install the OS version number did not change. So my guess is the HK CSL OS was successfully installed at all?
Thanks,
@Richard: I’m sorry, what I meant to say is that the HK CSL OS was not successfully installed. That’s why the chinese input screen did not appear because the device is still running AT&T OS?
Thanks,
Hi, i managed to get until step 5 and then it appears that i have to DOWNGRADE my OS in order to have the language pack installed into my phone. What should i do? Downgrade my system?
Thanks.
why my installation untill half way got error occured and make my phone cant start !? :( im very nervous now .
Guide above worked like a charm, thank you!
Hi Yau,
I chose to downgrade the firmware in the initial setup. Once the firmware has been replaced and you have connected it the BlackBerry Desktop Manager, it will prompt you to update your firmware again. It will update based on the installed firmware so you will have the latest update, together with the Chinese Read and Input support.
Good luck!
@Clive, I’m glad it works for you and thank you for answering Yau’s question.
@Kenneth, at which step did you get the error message?
Hi, I was wondering if I can do this on a mac?
Hi Richard,
I followed these until step 6, but only Eng , Fre, Ita, Ger, and Spa are available as input support selections. I’ve reinstalled, installed fresh after complete wipe out, etc many times (according to instrutions from several forums), but I’m still having this problem. Could you please help?
Thanks in advance!
BTW, I have the above problem when I chose the downgrade. When I chose the current-grade, I get the same message as Pang mentioned above: ““The BlackBerry Desktop Software does not have BlackBerry Device Software for the device that you have connected to the computer. Contact your wireless service provider or system administrator.”
I’m working with an unlocked AT&T 9700 in China (China Mobile). I have gone through these steps successfully before and have used East Asia language inputs while I was running previous versions of the device/desktop manager. The update created these problems!
Hi Minna, I’m glad it work out eventually. There has been a couple of newer version released since I wrote this tutorial and I haven’t tried to upgrade the system yet. As long as I can read and type Chinese in my berry, there isn’t any urgent need for me to upgrade.
Happy Berrying :)
can it be done on a mac?
Hi Timothy, I don’t have a Mac so I don’t know. Let me know if you figure out a way to do it in a Mac. Thanks
Hi Richard, I have not been able to find the folder C:\Program Files\Common Files\Research In Motion\AppLoader , the furthest I could go is C:\Program Files\Common Files… then I only have “Apple”, “Intel”, “McAfee”, “Microsoft Shared”, “Services”, “Sony Shared”, “SpeechEngines”, and “System” to choose from.
Any chance you can help please? Thanks a lot.
Forgot to say that I’m using Windows Vista.
Thanks in advance.
Hi Richard, sorry about the last 2 comments that I posted as I managed to find the folder today.. However, when I got to the very last stage (step 6), I didn’t get to choose which language to install. Instead I only got to choose applications such as Sudoku, Blackberry Messenger, etc. that I want to be installed or removed from my phone.
Any help will be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
i would like to know where is your chinese version of this essay above. thanks. also, is that possible to “write” chinese with Bold 9700?
i’m new to this phone. searching a lot online but still can’t figure out. thanks very much for your help
@Micky Choy, Chinese post is here http://www.richardhong.com/cn/2010/04/03/blackberry-bold-chinese-input.html
@Joan, have you managed to solve the issue eventually?
For windows 7, 64bits. the “vendor” file is in:
C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Research In Motion\AppLoader
This really helped me so so much.
@Peter, I’m glad it helps :)
Hi Richard,
Thank you for the step-by-step instruction guide.
I had trouble installing Japanese input using the blackberry desktop software, solved by following your prescription.
Cheers!
Hi Harry, I’m glad this instruction is helpful for you!
Hey Richard,
Thanks for your sharing now I have my Bold displaying Chinese and have the language input. Thanks a lot :)
Hi Richard,
Found your blog below when searching at about Chinese input for blackberry.
I’ve updated once using BlackBerry Handheld Software v5.0.0.1022 (EastAsia) with Applications: v5.0.0.593 for CSL Limited Customer (fyi, I’m Chinese indonesia using onyx 9700). After upgrade, turned out all my applications which I downloaded from BB App World were missing, even though I’ve done backup, I can only resume back my contacts, bbm, and notes.
Then, few days ago there’s update again for my blackberry, v5.0.0.602, after the upgrade, all applications were doing fine, but this version didn’t have Chinese input. I think it might be due to using indonesia’s GSM card not provide Chinese input.
I search for CSL Limited and found there’s newest version BlackBerry Handheld Software v5.0.0.1446 (EastAsia) Applications: 5.0.0.862.
Would like to get your advise, if I try to upgrade it again, would my applications be disappeared again at first time ?
I love to have chinese input as sometimes I would like to text some chinese characters with my overseas friends.
Thanks a lot !!!
Thanks a million and more!
I went to many website and witnessed that many people complained but your answer did work and brought my 9700 version Japanese, Korean and Chinese!
Thank you so much!
Hi Richard, thank you thank you thank you. I have been searching on the internet – left to right and top to bottom and no prevail. Finally I found your posting. It works like a charm. Thanks again.
David
Hi David, I’m glad it helps!
Hi, I was wondering if it could be done without connecting usb cable into pc, coz I lost it, is it possible?
Hi Kevin, don’t think it’s possible for now… you will need a cable.
Hey everyone,
Any idea how to do these steps with a Mac OS?
I already downloaded the file “BlackBerry Handheld Software v5.0.0.680 (EastAsia)” but cant find the file named “vendor.xml” anywhere on my Mac!
Hi Nour, sorry I don’t have a Mac to try this one. Hope others can help you by posting their guide here.
dear all
I hv done all the instruction above but still cannot apply the chinese text input on myBB, my BB 9700 version 5.0.0.734. Pls help….
Thank you
why my posting has been deleted? it is not working on my BB 9700. my BB version 5.0.0.734. Please… anybody knows?
thank you
thank you so much..
now i able to write chinese in my bb~~
It worked!! yeah! thank you very much!!
thanks richard, Now I can input chinese on my BB. Thanks
Richard, many thanks to you…. it works for me also….
Awesome Job once again. I like coming to your site because the writers often give us great pieces of information. Supreme article.I plan to add this website to my faves. I am planning to subscribe to the websites feed as well. Does anyone possess the galaxy??? It’s so nice.
Hey Richard,
I’m having trouble at the last part. I deleted the vendor file and ran the loader, but on the final step 6), i do not get the same screen, it does not register any language pack and i cannot select languages.
any advice? Thanks!
Hey Richard,
Your post is very helpful.
Thanks
Paul
I downloaded it. It’s a success(: thanks
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